Vacuum cleaner



June 10, 1941. F REN 2,244,843

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Jan. 28, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ZATTO E PatentedJune 10, 1941 VACUUM CLEANER Gustaf Einar Lofgren, Riverside, Conn.,assignor to Electrolux Corporation, Dover, Del., a corporation ofDelaware Application January 28, 1938, Serial No. 187,451

4 Claims.

My invention relates to vacuum cleaners and more particularly to vacuumcleaners of the type having a uni-t supported on the floor and connectedto a cleaning tool by a flexible hose or conduit. a

In vacuum cleaners of this type the cleaning tool is normally connectedby the flexible hose to the suction end of the vacuum cleaner unit. Thecleaning tool may be connected to the flexible hose with or withoutsubstantially rigid tubular members. In the use of the cleaner as asuction cleaner dirt is picked up by air drawn in through the cleaningtool and passes through the conduit to the cleaner unit. As the airpasses through theunit, entrained dust is collected in a dust-separatingmember and the air passes out an exhaust opening. For eificientlycooling the motor driving the fan the air may be passed wholly or partlythrough the motor before it passes out through the exhaust opening. Somecarbon dust may be picked up by the air as it passes through the motor,also some very fine dust particles may pass through the dust-separatingmember.

air passes before it leaves, the casing which serves to separate from itany carbon particles or fine dust which may have been entrained by theair.

In'accordance with my invention, a louver as sembly is mounted at therear end of the casing.

with an exhaust opening, carries the filter, and is arranged so that itmay be easily removed from the casing for inspection of the filter. Arear end housing for the casing houses the filter element and may beremoved for inspection of the motor. the louver assembly soi-t maybereadily removed and replaced after the louver assembly hasbeen removedfrom the rear end housing.

What I consider to be novel and my invention may be better understoodby'reference to the following specification and appended claims, whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1is a side view partially in section of a vacuum cleaner unit embodyingmy invention;

Fig. 2- is a rear view of the devices shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.2:

Fig. '4 is a cross-sectional view of a portionof the cleaner unit;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 55 of Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, numeral l0 designates generally avacuum cleaner, Vacuum cleaner It] includes a casing ll of substantiallycylindrical cross section which is adapted for mounting on a horizontalaxis. One end of the casing II is closed by a removable cover I2 inwhich an aperture [3 is provided for connecting a hose It. At the otherend'of hose M a cleaning tool It may be connected by means oi a tubularhandle member l6.

Within casing II, a dust-separating member I! is located with a flangedring l8 which is secured to the end of easing II by means of frontendcover II. The dust-separating member I! is preferably made of a finetexture cloth which will permit the passage of air therethrough but willseparate any dust particles entrained in the air. ber 11 is periodicallyemptied from the separating member H by removing it from the casing Hwhich may be done by removing the frontend cover I2.

A filter element is provided adjacent the exhaust opening through whichthe The filter element is removably secured to A motor fan unitincluding an electric motor l9 and a centrifugal fan 20 is mounted withthe casing H. The housing of fan 2| is sealed to the casing of motor I!)so. that all of the air passing through the fan l'9 must pass throughthe interior of the motor it.

After the air has passed through the motor I! it enters a rear endhousing 22 carried by the end of casing ll. Rear end housing 22 has anexit fitting or louver assembly 23 in the form of a hollow body in whichthe exhaust openings 2| and 2-5 are provided. The air in'passage throughthe separating member ll may carry with it very fine dust particleswhich are fine enough to pass through the separating member l1. As theair passes through the motor l9 car- -bon dust particles from the motorbrushes may be entrained by the air. It is not desirable to pass thisair with the fine dust particles and the carbon particles out throughthe exhaust openings 24 and 25. For the purpose of separatcured at theirfront ends to a ring 28 and at their rear ends to a ring 29. Ring 28 issecured directly to the casing H at one end and the ring '29 is securedto the casing II at the other end.

As it may be seen by reference to Fig. 3, the

The dust collected in the separating memrear end housing 22 is in theform of a castin and is secured to ring 29 with an interposed packingring 36 which provides a fluid-tight seal between the casing II and thehousing 22. Ring 29 carries a pivot pin 3| for a handle 32 for thevacuum cleaner unit l0.

Louver assembly 23 is which the exhaust openings 24 and 25 are locatedis secured to housing 22 by means of two screws 33 located at oppositesides. The exhaust openings 24 and 25 are provided with inclined vanes34 and 35, respectively, for directing air upwardly as it leaves vacuumcleaner unit In. The exhaust opening 24 is divided intotwo symmetricalhalves, in each half the vanes 34 are provided.

In the operation of the vacuum cleaner unit II), it is desirable attimes to use a blower action instead of a suction action. To provide forthe connecting of the hose I4, for blower action the exhaust opening 25is provided with a cylindrical sliding louver 36 which carries vanes 35.The sliding louver 36 is held flush with the outer surface of louverassembly 23 by means of a spiral spring 31 which in its distended formis of substantially conical shape. The hose I4 is inserted in theopening 25 moving the sliding louver 36 to the left, as shown in Fig. 3,against the bias of spring 31.

Secured to the louver assembly 23 by means of screws 39 is an exhaustcover 40 in the form of a stamping. Cover 40 is provided with a port 4|with a curved lip 42. Extending transversely across port 4| is across-bar 43 with a central seat 44 for spring 31. Tracks 45 are securedto cover 48 serving to guide sliding louver 36 in its movement uponinsertion of the hose l4 in opening 25.

Filtering member 26 is provided with a substantially cylindricalperforated frame 46 with a recess 41 at one end. A filtering material 48is preferably in the form of a fabric or cloth with interspersed layersof felted fibers. The filtering member 26 is mounted on the louverassembly 23 by means of fingers 49 with inwardly extending projections50 which are adapted to snap into an annular recess provided in cover48. The filtering material surrounds the frame 46 to a point where itoverlies the cover 40 so all of the air that enters-port 4| passesthrough filter material 48. The surface; of filter material 48 is largerin area than the area of the opening of the rear end housing 22 in whichlouver assembly 23 is inserted.

Cleaning or replacement of the filtering member 26 or the covering offiltering material 48 may be accomplished by removing the louverassembly 23 from housing 22. The louver assembly 23 is removed simply byloosening the screws 33. While it will seldom be found necessary toreplace the filtering member 26.. it is desirable to remove the louverassembly 23 00- casionally for examination of the filtering member 26 todetermine whether or not itneed be replaced.

Mounted in the top of housing 22 is a switch 52 for controlling theoperation of the motor l9. Switch 52 has a button 53 for actuating theswitch 52. Connected to the switch 52 are two terminals 54 which areprovided for connection with a source of electrical supply. A plate 55covers the switch 52 and has an opening through which the button 53passes.

In the assembling of the rear end housing 22, the switch 52 and plate 55are. first secured to the housing. The housing may then be m u ted onthe casing H by means of screws 56 which are threaded in engagement withthe ring 29. Ordinarily it will be more convenient to assemble thelouver assembly 23 with the cover 40 and filtering member 26 and secureit to the housing 22 after housing 22 has been mounted on the casing ll.However, whenever it is desirable to examine or replace the filteringmaterial 26 it is not necessary to remove the housing 22 as only thelouver assembly 23 need be removed. To obtain access to the motor, it ismore convenient to remove the whole of the assembly of housing 22.

The operation of the vacuum cleaner I0 is as follows:

Air drawn in through the cleaning tool |6 picks up dirt or dust locatedon the surface being cleaned and passes through the tubular member 6,flexible hose l4, through the aperture B in front end cover l2 into thecasin ll. As the air passes through the dust-separating member I! thedust is collected by the dustseparating member H. The air passes throughthe centrifugal fan 20 and is then directed through the motor l9. As theair passes through the motor l9 carbon particles from the motor brushesmay be picked up. Also very fine dust may have passed through thedust-separating member H. The air with carbon particles and fine dustparticles which may have been entrained then passes through thefilterelement 26. As the air passes through the filter element 26 thesecarbon particles and very fine dust particles are removed from the air.The air enters a port in the exhaust cover 40. A portion of the airpasses out the exhaust opening 24 of the louver assembly 23 and anotherportion passes out the exhaust opening 25. The air in passing throughthe exhaust openings 24 and 25 is directed upwardly by the vanes 34 and35, respectively, away from the surface on which the cleaner unit issupported.

After the vacuum cleaner ID has been used for a while it is desirable toremove the dust-separating member I! and empty it which may be done byfirst removing the front end cover l2. At less frequent intervals it isadvantageous to remove the filter element 26 for inspection to see,whether or not it is desirable to clean or replace it. This may be doneby unscrewing the two thumb screws 33 and removing the louver assembly23 from the rear end housing 22. When the louver assembly 23 is removedthe filter element 26 carried by it is also removed. After inspectingthe filter element 26 it may be removed, if necessary, by removing theframe 46 from the louver assembly 23. The whole filter element 26 maythen be replaced, or the filter material 48 on the frame 46 may bereplaced. A new or clean filter element 26 or one with a cleaned orreplaced filter material 48 is replaced on the louver assembly 23 bysimply passing the fingers 49 over the cover 48 until the projections 50snap into the annular recess 5|. The filter element 26 and the louverassembly 23 may then be replaced in the rear end housing 22. The vacuumcleaner I0 is then ready for continued use as a suction cleaner or whendesired its blower action may be utilized by connecting the flexiblehose 4 in the exhaust opening 25.

What I claim is: v

1. In a vacuum cleaner having a casing with a suction opening at one endand an exit opening at the other end, a removable exit fitting for saidlast-mentioned opening, said exit fitting comprising a hollowbody, meanson said hollow body for attachment to said casing with the major portionof the hollow body within the casing, a filter for said major portion ofthe hollow body, said filter having a filtering surface spaced from thewall of the casing and of an area materially greater than the area ofthe exit opening in the end of the casing in which the hollow body isapplied.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein said filter is readilydetachable from said hollow body.

3. The structure defined in claim 1, that includes means supportin'gsaidfilter in a manner such that the air passing through the casing passesthrough said filter.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 that includes means for securing'said exit fitting in place in a manner to permit the same to be 10readily applied or removed.

GUSTAF EINAR LOFGREN.

